Steve:

Thanks for your thoughts here.

Both of our interpretations regarding the auto tuner extender are pretty
much alike.

The unit costs $79, so I am half tempted just to order it, with the idea
that if it doesn't suit my needs, MFJ does have a pretty reasonable return
policy.

My thinking behind the whole purchase centers around the N A Q P contests in
August.  I likely will be doing them from out in the RV, and if I could
somehow easily get some sort of a signal out on 80 meters, I could probably
compete reasonably well.  When I am out there over the fourth of July
week-end, I'm going to more thoroughly check to see exactly where the TS480
auto tuner tunes the DXCC on 80 meters, which will help me get a better
handle on the situation.

Will keep you posted.

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ


-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2014 8:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: MFJ Tuner Extender

Tom,

Never used one of these, but I think it is just half of a tuner.   It's 
got a tapped inductor with  a rotary switch  so you can add various amounts
of inductance  and then tune the auto tuner into it.

You could monkey around with coax length to find something that suits your
needed band, and maybe lose another band  at the same time.  Or a plain old
external tuner to match whatever bands  the auto tuner doesn't like.


I'm not sure how much loss is involved with the MFJ thing,  but it's ease of
use may make it an attractive option.

73, Steve KW3A



On 6/30/2014 4:14 PM, Tom Behler wrote:
> Hi, all.
>
>
>
> Has anyone had any experience, either good or bad, with the MFJ tuner 
> extender?
>
>
>
> Out at the RV, my Alpha Delta DXCC tunes with the TS480 internal 
> antenna tuner throughout the top half of 80 meters, and I'm wondering 
> how much it might extend the tunable range for the lower part of the band.
>
>
>
> Of course, I ask this question knowing three things right off the bat.
> First, the DXCC is only 82 feet long, so will obviously be quite 
> narrow on
> 80 meters.  Second, the lower half of 80 meters goes all the way down 
> to 3.5 MHZ, which is a long way away from the middle part of the band at
3.750 MHZ.
> Third, of course, as we all know, just because an antenna tunes, that 
> doesn't always mean it will perform well at the end of the tuning process.
>
>
>
>
>
> The camp site DXCC already tunes on 10, 15, 17, 20, and 40 meters.  30 
> meters would be nice, but is not a necessity for me at this time.
>
>
>
> I'm just trying to decide if adding this piece of equipment to my tool 
> box would be worth it in the long run.
>
>
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
>
>
>
>